The New Girl
by countrygirlxo
Summary: Something had happened in LA to freak Amber out enough to leave home. But is it really possible to outrun you past? Sometimes our nightmares don't disappear when we wake up.
1. Chapter 1 : I left in a bit of a rush

Sienna padded quietly across her room to her bed where Jason was sat looking at some of the photos which surrounded her bed. Most of them were in expensive looking gold edged frames bought as presents from old relatives and congratulation presents from proud parents but there was the occasional one of her and Paige kept in plastic pink holders covered in princesses and fairies from when they were younger. Those were the ones which she loved the most because although they were definitely cheaper and more out of place in her bedroom they were the ones which held the memories worth cherishing.

Sienna squealed and nudged Jason gently in the ribs, "You don't want to be looking at those, I look awful!" she declared teasingly. Of course her squeals of indignation were completely false as both she and Jason knew that she looked amazing no matter what. She wasn't just being vain although she had to admit that, that was certainly part of it. Being a vampire Sienna was naturally beautiful. With her dark hair and bewitching eyes she looked stunning even on her bad days.

"Now we both know that's not true" he murmured back in a teasingly gentle voice as he placed his arm around her shoulders. Sienna moved into the contact and smiled against his neck as her arms wound around his waist. The young couple had been together for about 6 months now but he still couldn't get over how lucky he was.

When the two of them had met she'd been dating Brad Moreau who funnily had turned out to become one of Jason's best friends, after he'd gotten over his and Sienna's break up which had hit the poor guy hard. Jason had almost lost Brad after that but thank god he hadn't. Brad was a great guy and though he'd been hurt when Sienna had left him he'd admitted that their relationship had been in trouble for a while and given the two his blessing.

For a while the two of them just sat there together on her bad and listened to the combined sounds of their hearts beating. Slowly Jason lowered his head to kiss Sienna gently just below her hairline. Jason really did love his girlfriend and though sometimes he found it hard to deal with all the problems that came with dating a vampire he wouldn't be without her.

Suddenly Sienna pulled away from him and jumped up from the bed to reach her wardrobe. She slid the door open quickly and started to go through the clothes hung up there. She riled through the contents of her wardrobe for a while before running her hand through her hair and claiming she had absolutely nothing to wear.

Jason just chuckled and came up behind her to wrap his arms round her waist and look in the mirror.

"How about that cute red dress Paige bought you as her coming back present last year?" Jason asked. God knew he was useless with clothes so he had to go with what he knew she looked gorgeous in and that red dress made his jaw hit the ground every single time.

"Now as much as I love the look on your face when I'm wearing that dress it's not entirely appropriate for tonight." She told him, smirking at his reflection in the mirror. He just shrugged nonchalantly in the mirror and buried his nose in the skin at her neck. Sienna shivered and leaned her head back against his shoulder.

"So what exactly is happening tonight?" he asked from his position just below her ear knowing that his breath on her skin was most likely giving her goose bumps.

"My dad's having his business dinner for some new clients that he'd trying to impress and like the good daughter I am I'm going to turn up, smile, look pretty and talk my dad up so that they sign with him." She explained. "So you have to be gone by the time I get ready." She scolded him playfully.

"So I have about another 2 hours then?" joked Jason. Sienna slapped him gently on the arm and pulled a pretty knee length blue dress out of the wardrobe and held it against herself in the mirror. It was a cotton, pale blue design with an embroided lace waistline and shoulders with puffed sleeves. She began to turn slightly in the mirror but was interrupted when the phone rang in the hall.

"Jason can you get that please?" asked Sienna still examining herself in the mirror. Jason rolled his eyes but went to grab the phone from the small table in the corridor. He shut left the door ajar and reached out to grab the receiver which was beeping angrily.

"Hello?" he answered politely.

"_Sienna? Sienna is that you? I really need your help..."_ The voice that met him was young and feminine but unfamiliar so it definitely wasn't one of the girls. The other main characteristic was that the voice was absolutely terrified.

"I'm sorry this is Jason. Sienna's boyfriend? I can go get her if you like?" he offered quickly.

"_Erm yeah that would be great could you tell her it's Amber and to hurry please?"_ The voice on the other end had audibly risen through several octaves and was choking on tears.

"Em, sure...are you ok?" he asked softly, feeling unbearably worried for Amber…whoever she was.

"_Look I don't have time for this please can you get Sienna? Please?"_ Jason leant around the door with his hand over the receiver and caught Sienna's eyes. She turned round and looked at him questioningly.

"Sienna, someone called Amber wants to talk to you. It seems pretty urgent." He handed her the phone and she held it up to her ear quickly.

"Amber? Is that you?" Jason could just hear Amber's voice on the other end of the line.

"_Yeah it's me. I'm sorry for scaring you it's just…I mean I'm kinda…I needed some help and I didn't know who to call so."_

"Well I'm glad you called me. Now where are you?" she asked firmly.

"_I'm at Malibu Central Station,"_ the voice sniffled on the other end. Sienna looked at Jason and confusion flashed across her eyes before she spoke again.

"Would you like me to come pick you up? I can be there in 15 minutes." She replied.

"_Yes please. I'm sorry I don't mean to be a pain it's just that- please insert 25 cents for an additional 10 minutes." _Sienna waited with her brow furrowed for Amber to come back on.

"_Sienna? I'm sorry I'm using one of the payphones from the entrance."_

"Why aren't you on your cell?" Asked Sienna surprised.

"_I left in a bit of a rush and I forgot it. You have no idea how glad I am that your house number's the same"_ she laughed weakly but Sienna could tell it was fake.

"I'll be there in quarter of an hour Amber, stay where you are ok?" A mumbled reply came from the phone and the Sienna put it back in the cradle and made for the stairs.

"Wait a second, hold on. Who was that and where are you going?" Sienna turned to face him from where she had grabbed her jacket off the peg on the back of her door. She put it on quickly and flipping her hair out of the collar started towards the stairs.

"I'll explain in the car." And then she grabbed her car keys of the mantle by the door and strode out into the driveway. Jason ran after and reached for the passenger's door. He got in quickly as Sienna revved the engine and backed out of the driveway. They were both silent for a couple of minutes as Sienna drove down the street and onto the main road.

"Okay" Jason started. "Who is Amber? Why is she in Malibu? And why was she crying down the phone?". The sound of that girl's voice had seriously freaked him out. The only comparison he could make to the fear in that girl's voice was how Brad had sounded when he found his vampire best mate covered in blood and cuts having been kidnapped. If that was the only comparison he had then something big had to have happened to this Amber girl to make her sound like that…to make her cry like that.

"Amber is an old friend of mine and the girls'. She used to live next door to me and her parents and my parents were great friends. She went to primary school and then junior school with us but left before we met the guys. She was one of my best friends," Sienna whispered wistfully as she remembered the little chocolate haired girl she used to play dress up with and who later went with her to buy her first bra.

"She moved after her mum died. Her dad applied for a job up in LA as a way of trying to escape I imagine. He used to tell my dad that he felt like Lorraine hadn't left, that her ghost was suffocating him." She shrugged as if she thought he was bit crazy but continued.

"He got the job and left for the city with Amber. We all hated that she had to leave but we tried to stay in contact. I'm rather ashamed to say it's been a couple of years since I heard from her." She bit her lip sadly.

"The fact that she's here without her dad seems a bit odd, she's been to visit a handful of times before but she always came with Tim. That makes me wonder whether they've been in a fight or something; that would explain the crying but not the fear. One thing's for certain. Something definitely isn't right.


	2. Chapter 2 : What happened to you?

What happened to you? Get dressed in the dark?

Half an hour later Jason and Sienna were wandering around the busy entrance of Malibu Central Station looking for Amber. A feat which was proving rather difficult for Jason since he'd never met the girl and Sienna's hurried description of 'tall, brown hair, green eyes' fitted half the girls in sight.

They'd now been looking for about 15 minutes but it was now around 5 o'clock and therefore full of commuters travelling to and from business meetings. It was also the Friday before a bank holiday so there were plenty of people with large suitcases going away for the weekend (although seeing as Malibu had sun, sea and sand Jason couldn't understand them wanting to leave).

The remaining time in the car had been spent in silence as Sienna bit her bottom lip and tried to break all the speed limits and Jason twiddled his thumbs uncomfortably, unable to get the crying voice out of his head even as he tried. He was worried. Sienna was nervous which meant this was serious. Sienna was never ever nervous, she was always so calm and collected that she had only ever seen her break 2 or 3 times and those had only been under the worst of situations.

Sienna was searching frantically around the entrance searching for the best friend she hadn't seen in years. She had a brief idea of what Amber looked like but who knew how if she'd changed over the last couple of years. Sienna had never thought to ask what she looked like, instinctively thinking brown hair green eyes. But what if she'd dyed her hair? Gotten a fringe that hid her eyes?

And then suddenly she was stood in front of her with a hesitant half smile on her face. "Sienna?" Amber asked quietly. Her raven haired best friend just nodded and pulled her into a hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Sienna pulled back to look at her.

Amber was tall and slim with long burgundy hair that fell in waves down her back. A side fringe brushed the edge of her left eyes and curled around the shape of her face. Her eyes were a startling green which shone even in the half light provided by the train station. She was just as Sienna remembered her…but then again she wasn't.

Her hair was slightly mussed as if she'd run her hand through it a lot and her eyes were red and puffy from crying with smudged mascara as if she'd tried to rub it off her cheeks. But the main difference was something that would to anyone else would be invisible but which hit Sienna like a tonne of bricks.

All her life Amber had, had a glow about her that everyone attributed to her optimistic and lively personality. The phrase 'her soul showed in her face' seemed to have been made to fit this girl but now…now she looked so dim it was as if someone had tried to snuff her out. The other give away that her friend was distressed was her choice of clothing. Normally Amber had a very elegant style that matched in both colour and cut but now she was wearing a pair of torn jeans, a grey T-shirt and an old pair of black sneakers.

"What happened to you? Get dressed in the dark?" she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Something like that," muttered Amber trying to smile but feeling the expression break apart. Just for a second she looked like a six year old about to burst into tears but she pulled herself together and dabbed at her eyes with her fingers.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit tired. You know how I get when I'm sleep deprived," she laughed trying to make it seem like nothing but Sienna could read her like a book and knew without asking that the crying and sadness went much deeper than anything sleep related. But before she could mention in Jason appeared beside her.

"Amber this is my boyfriend; Jason. Jason this is my best friend, Amber." Introduced Sienna. The two shook hands and Jason was surprised to feel that Amber was literally shaking like a leaf. Her hands were cold and she was looking quite pale.

"It's nice to meet you." She muttered quietly with a tentative smile, taking back her hand and running it through her hair subconsciously.

"Likewise." He smiled back at her. He tried to give of a friendly aura and tried to appear indifferent, thinking she wouldn't want him to stand their assessing her or wondering what was going on. After all the most likely reason for her to be here was that she was scared and needed a few friendly faces. And, by the look of it, some sleep. Her eyelids look heavy and she yawned into her hand. She rubbed her hand up and down her arm as she watched the two of them.

"Well," started Sienna, "why don't we get you home. You look exhausted." Amber just nodded her head and picked up her suitcase from beside her. Jason was at her side immediately and took it from her with a smile, wheeling it behind him as the two of them followed Sienna back outside to the car park.

The two girls got into the car as Jason popped the trunk and put the suitcase in. It wasn't heavy he was surprised to find. Most girls usually packed whole wardrobes when they went away so why did Amber's feel like it was only half full. She really must have been in a rush he thought as he shoot the boot and made his way round to the driver's seat: Sienna having chosen to stay in the backseat with her troubled best friend.

The drive home turned out to be relatively quiet: Amber alternating between getting lost in her own thoughts and dozing slightly and the other two not wanting to say anything that might upset her until they knew what was wrong. Sienna had decided it would be better to talk to her father first. He knew Amber's dad well and would be likely to know what was wrong and how to fix it.

Suddenly Amber's tired voice came from her corner as she hurried thank the two people who had to come to get her at such short notice.

"Hey, guys, I just wanted to say thank you for coming to pick me up. It was really great you of you to come and get me like that so, thanks." She finished.

"It's alright honestly. I know you'd do the same for me, besides" Sienna grinned at her then, "I was looking forward to seeing my spunky little friend who used to hate makeup and blow up the kitchen for fun." Amber laughed then and some of the colour leaked into her face.

"You would remember that would? The one truly bad thing I ever did-"

"I would hardly say the only bad thing…" laughed Sienna.

"Okay, maybe not the only one, but one of the worst," replied Amber, remembering, "Mum was furious when she saw the whole in the wall. It didn't matter that I didn't know putting light bulbs in the microwaves would make it explode. Oh no! I should have just known" she giggled.

"Well, it is pretty much common sense isn't it?" inserted Jason, "I mean if you put something electrical in the microwave it is gonna do something bad isn't it?" He was laughing to himself at the look of playful shock on her face.

"Common sense? Well I must say I am offended, I may be a girl, I may wear makeup and high heels but I most certainly do not have any common sense! And I am rather proud of it." Jason just laughed at her and then turned back to the road.

When they got home Sienna took Amber up to the guest bed room and asked Jason if he could put the kettle on as she lifted up Amber's case in one hand and carried it up the stairs. Super strength: the perks of being a vampire.

The guest bedroom was down the end of the hallway next to Paige's room. It was painted an elegant duck-egg blue that was continued throughout the whole room. The beanbag in the corner was blue along with the duvet and the lamp which cast the room in a pale off-white light. There was a bookshelf full of novels, DVD's and CD's, to fit the TV on the left hand wall and the surround sound stereo system in the corner of the room.

It was stylish and modern but very tasteful and incredibly beautiful. But it was cold and very rarely used. It mainly served as an extra bedroom for when any of her mum's family came over so it held nothing personal. In fact with the amount of effort the maid went through to keep this room clean you would think it had never been used.

"This is great Sienna thank, really. It's gorgeous. And thanks again…for you know, letting me stay and all." Sienna just smiled at her and nodded her head.

She handed Amber her case and then started to talk, "Look Amber are you sure you're ok? No offense but you were a bit of a mess today and you seemed so scared I just…" she swallowed, "I just want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk."

For a while Amber said nothing and instead moved to sit on the edge of the bed with her hands clasped between her knees. She shook her head and sighed, letting out a deep breath as she focused on the rug below her feet.

"Dad got remarried about a year ago," she explained, "and Jennifer, well she's ok, she'd not mean or anything it's just…she and I don't believe in the same things and we were always arguing over something. I tried to make things work with her for my dad's sake, really I did it's just…" Tears started to leak down her face and she angrily wiped them away with the back of her hand before realising it was a futile effort and giving up.

"She's his everything now. He doesn't see anything else but her and I was suddenly so unimportant. I tried talking to him but it only made him angry and then this morning," she was sobbing the words now, "we had a huge fight and he took her side, as good as told me that he loved her more and I just…I took off, grabbed some stuff threw it in a bag and caught a train. I know it probably seems unbelievably childish but I needed to think. It wasn't just the fight, it was months worth of arguments and rows and…" he she cut off coughing and spluttering through the tears.

"It must have been one hell of an argument for you to take off like that." Sienna murmured, taking a seat next to Amber and rubbing her back comfortingly. She knew there was something Amber was holding back, having a fight didn't explain the fear she'd heard earlier but…Amber nodded but continued to sob quietly. And then she just stopped, suddenly, and, looking embarrassed went to a convenient box of tissues next to the bathroom which she hadn't noticed before. She blew her noise softly and they rubbed at her eyes with her sleeves.

"Is it ok if I go to sleep please?" she asked Sienna. "I don't mean to be rude it's just that I'm absolutely knackered and I could use some rest." Sienna nodded understandingly, hugged her friend once and left quickly. After she was gone Amber got changed into her shorts and tank top pyjamas and cleaned her teeth. She could have done with a shower but she was tired so she just fell back onto the bed and curled up into a ball. It had been a very long day.

Meanwhile downstairs Sienna was explaining to Jason what Amber had told her when Sienna suddenly remembered her dad's business dinner. She was supposed to be there well over two hours ago and he was sure to be furious. She jumped up quickly and ran to the kitchen to grab the phone, frantically dialling her dad's mobile. He picked up on the second ring; almost as if he'd been waiting.

"There had better be a good reason you're not here Sienna." She was right, he had been waiting for her to call, and from the tone of his voice he was obviously not very happy about it. Of course, he had every right not to be happy about it, she had essentially stood him up. She'd be mad in his position.

"I'm sorry dad, I was getting ready but then I got a phone call from Amber asking me to pick her up from the station and I am so sorry that I forgot about it but I promise I would have been there if I could," she finished, waiting for the anger from her father. So she was surprised when his tone cheered up.

"Amber? As in Tim and Amber? She had to call you for a ride? I don't quite understand why Tim couldn't just call a cab but I suppose he has his reasons, or forget his wallet, he always forgetful," he laughed for a second, "well the dinner's still got a couple of hours left to it why don't you bring them down here? I'm sure there are lots of people who would love to meet Tim, and Belle and Erin are here, I'm sure they'd love to see Amber, I-"

"Not exactly dad, when I say Amber's here, I mean just Amber. She and her dad had a huge fight and she took off pretty quickly, said she needed the space. Apparently she and her stepmom don't get on. At least, that's what she told me. I think there's more to it but she's asleep now and I don't want to push her." Her dad quickly became serious.

"Is she ok Sienna? I mean did she look, did she have any bruises or…?" He asked hurriedly.

"What? Dad no! He didn't hurt her honestly, they just had a bit of a row and she's a bit shaken up but she should be fine."There was a thoughtful silence on the other end of the phone as her dad thought.

"Look, this dinner thing should be over in about an hour so and then your mother and I can come home and I'll talk to her. Now did she tell you what she and her father were arguing about?"

"No she didn't tell me much just that it was a big argument and she needed to leave. She called up a couple of hours ago to tell me she was at the station. She sounded quite spooked." Sienna felt horrible just remembering how scared Amber had been and the choking sobs she'd let out just half an hour before.

"Ok, just let her sleep and I'll try and talk to her when I get back, alright?" came her dad's always calm voice.

"Sure. That sounds like a plan. I'll see you in a bit. Bye." Sienna hung up the phone feeling a bit better but not much, she still wasn't happy. Whatever had caused this argument had been big, big enough to make Amber run away which was something she'd never done. Amber had never been scared of anything. She'd fought of the bullies when they were kids and checked under Sienna's bed at sleepovers for monsters. She's ridden on the handlebars of Paige's bike at the age of 11 knowing that she would fall off and not cared. She hadn't even winced when they gave her the 12 stitches on her forehead. So why was she so scared now?


	3. Chapter 3 : How about I invite Belle?

Sienna's dad didn't get in for about another two hours as the dinner had run on later than expected and Sienna was starting to get a bit twitchy: the more she thought back to the fear she'd heard in Amber's voice the more anxious she became over her friend. Sienna couldn't stop wondering what had happened to spook Amber that badly. It just wasn't like her.

She'd been up to check on Amber several times in the last couple of hours. The first time had acted as a bit of a shock: the duvet was pulled tightly around her as if it could protect her and her arms were wrapped around her head as if scared. But it was the look of terror on her face that told her Amber wasn't sleeping as peacefully as she seemed.

For a while she'd just sat by Amber, who'd flinched away from the contact, and stroked her hair, listening to the way her breathing started to calm down. After a while the sleeping girl's posture had started to relax until she looked calm. Sienna stayed there for a while before going back down to Jason, shaking. Her best friend was hurt, and from what she'd seen it went pretty deep.

When Sienna's dad got in he went straight through to the living room to talk to Sienna. "How is she?" he asked straight to the point. Sienna jumped at the sound of his voice and stood up quickly.

"She…well to be honest she'd a bit of a mess. She was sobbing into the phone when she called, and I went to check on her earlier and she looked like she was about to get attacked in her sleep. I'm not entirely sure what's happened but it's much worse than she's letting it on to be."

Her dad nodded briskly but instead of answering turned to the stairs and made his way up to the guest bedroom, where he supposed Sienna would have put the girl. He poked his head around the door to see a large bump in the duvet and a fountain of brown curls coming from the pillow. He didn't want to wake her up but he knew it would be best to talk to her pretty soon and he was going to work first thing tomorrow so this might be the best time.

He shook her gently and watched as she began to stir jerkily. Her first reaction was to look around the room quickly, as if searching for danger. At least that's how she appeared. Eventually thought her eyes settles on Mr Devereux and she relaxed visibly.

"Hey Mr D." she smiled tentatively at him running her hand through her hair in an effort to make it more presentable. He smiled back.

"Hey Amber? How are you doing?" he asked gently, the girl still looked half asleep and he was beginning to feel a bit guilty for waking her up.

"I'm doing good, better than I was anyway. I'm sorry for not calling ahead. I didn't actually realise I was going anywhere till this morning." She laughed weakly but he could hear the bitterness behind it.

"Yes, Sienna mentioned that you left in a bit of a hurry. I understand you and Tim had a bit of a disagreement?" he questioned softly trying not to pressure her.

"That may be a bit of an understatement," she looked down at the duvet, "Me and dad, well we haven't been getting along for a while now and things just kind of came to a head this morning. I know I probably shouldn't have run it's just that he…well he just…" she trailed off slowly, her voice at its bleakest.

"He what Amber? Did he try to hit you or something, I don't know, maybe-"

"No, not like that, it's complicated I can't, I'm sorry I just can't talk about it right now I…" tears were now falling steadily down he cheeks as she remembered. She took a deep breath and looked up again. "I'm sorry, it's just been a bit of a rough time and I don't really know what to do but I promise I won't be a pain. I'm not gonna stay too long."

He cut across her quickly, "Amber, you know you are more than welcome to stay here until things settle down between you and your dad. I know that it's been a while since you were last here but I'd like to think it was still a home to you. And you know my wife would love to have you around, without Paige around I fear she's beginning to spoil Sienna." He laughed and Amber joined in happily.

"Thanks Mr D, I'd love to stay here, if you're sure," she said earnestly before grinning again, "and god knows we can't let Sienna get any more spoilt than she is at the moment." He laughed with her then but noticed her eyelids drooping, indicating just how tired she was.

"I think I'll let you sleep now Amber, you must be exhausted." He got up and moved to the door before looking back at the girl who had once been like a third daughter to him. "Goodnight." And then he was gone. By the time he was downstairs Amber was already asleep.

Sienna jumped up as he dad entered the room and turned to him, with questioning eyes. "Did she say anything more?" she asked hurriedly. But her dad just shook his head and turned round to get a scotch from the liquor cabinet.

"She didn't say anything else but she's obviously not great. I told her she could stay here." Sienna nodded. "Now where's your mother gone?" He asked her.

"She went to bed early, she wanted to come up and check on Amber but I told her she'd be better waiting for the morning." She explained. Mr Devereux nodded his head in agreement as his phone started to ring in his pocket. He jumped visibly, and indication of how worried he was before checking the caller ID.

"It's Tim," he told Sienna, who had gone back to stand next to Jason on the sofa. Jason was looking tired too and stood up, kissing Sienna on the cheek and told her he was going to head home and that he would be back in the morning as Mr Devereux headed up to his study to take the phone call.

Sienna said goodbye to Jason, kissing him softly on the porch before hugging him to her.

"She'll be ok." He whispered in her ear and she nodded, knowing she was being silly, that Amber would be fine and just needed a little time to sort herself out. She watched Jason leave in his car and waved until she knew he wouldn't be able to see her anymore. Then she turned back to the house, wrapping her arms around herself as she walked up the stairs.

He made for her room but stopped as she heard her dad's voice talking angrily into the phone in his study. She went to the door and listened, knowing it was wrong and that she would be in trouble if her dad caught her, but needing to know what Tim had said to make Amber leave home so fast. She watched through the slightly open door as her dad ran his left hand through his hair, the other holding the receiver.

"Well that's not true, Tim she's terrified," there was a pause and then, "No Tim I am not exaggerating, she is genuinely scared and I don't know what you did but…" There was even longer pause here and she saw the colour drain out of her dad's face as Tim's voice pleaded with him about something. He shook his head in obvious disbelief before replying.

"How could you possibly think you were doing the right thing when she clearly told you she didn't…No Tim, it was a bloody stupid idea and you ought to be ashamed that you…" well now Tim must have done something bad. Sienna's dad nearly never swore, "No Tim, I will not send her back she can stay here for a while, Sienna's happy to see her and a break will do her good…" her dad shook his head again and she could see him trying to control his anger.

"No Tim you listen I refuse to send her back when it's quite obvious you will do the same thing again, I will not hurt her like that it's not…" Tim cut him off again and now her father's anger started to leak into his voice. "I know she is not my daughter Tim, believe me but you really don't deserve to have her as yours either so I will…" the voice on the phone was quieter now, begging almost.

"Tim I know you're my friend, and you thought you were doing the right thing but…no I will not condone it or even try to understand it is _her_ choice not yours to make." The voice got angry again and her dad's jaw tightened in fury.

"You know what Tim, I will not even have this conversation with you, we'll talk when you get your head screwed back on. Goodbye!" and with that she watched her dad hang up the phone with a heavy sigh. He put the phone down on the desk and put his head in his hands, feeling slightly defeated. He had not expected that. Especially not from Tim, what had he been thinking?

Sienna knocked tentatively on the door and walked in, taking in her dad's posture. He had his head in his hands and looked very worried, obviously Tim was the reason Amber had taken off and whatever he'd done her dad did not approve.

"How'd things go with Tim?" she asked gesturing to the phone lying before him, her voice laced with concern.

"Not well, he's got a lot to answer for." Her dad answered, his jaw still clenched from his anger at his old friend. He just couldn't believe it of Tim, he had always been such a nice guy, it was impossible to think he could do anything so cruel.

"What's he done?" she asked tentatively not wanting to hassle him about it. " What's he done that's so terrible Amber would skip town?" she wasn't even sure she wanted to know the answer but she had to ask, she needed to know what was happening to make Amber so upset.

Her dad looked up at her worried expression and sighed again "I'm afraid I can't tell you Sienna; it's complicated and I think you'll be able to help Amber more if you don't know." He looked at her with eyes that told her it was serious and that he really was just looking out for Amber's well-being. "What she needs right now is someone to keep her occupied, to keep her mind of her fight with her sad. I've told Tim she's staying here for a while and that you'll look after. So go show her the sights and take her to the beach or something."

Sienna just nodded and then smiled at her dad in an attempt to lighten the mood, "Even better, I can take her to Van Dyke's party tomorrow night, Amber always did love to dance." She grinned as she remembered the junior school discos where Amber always turned up looking fabulous and danced until she couldn't walk. She'd been a diva even back then at the ripe old age of 12.

Her dad nodded his approval before excusing himself for the night, explaining that he was very tired and would see her in the morning. He stood up and kissed her forehead before heading across the hall to his bedroom, and his wife, who would not doubt be waiting up to hear what was going on.

The next day Sienna went down to breakfast to find Amber already dressed and eating a bowl of cornflakes. Amber heard her walked in and looked up to see her best friend trying to cover up her worried expression. She smiled at Sienna and then offered her the orange juice sat in front of her by way of greeting.

"Your mum just left for work, she made me pancakes," she indicated to the plate in front of her, "yours are in the microwave to stay warm." She took another bite and then groaned in satisfaction. "Okay, these are unbelievably good, your mum should cook professionally."

"You know as great as that sounds I don't think master chef accepts pancakes as a gourmet dish," Sienna laughed. Amber looked contemplative as she considered the truth in the statement.

"Meh, I'm sure they have breakfast chefs somewhere, she could always do deserts, I'd pay mega bucks for these pancakes," she gestured to said pancakes with her fork, spearing a piece of one and tossing into her mouth happily. "So what's the plan for today? I'm sure you've got somewhere to be, what with Paige being at college I'm sure that makes you Malibu's new IT girl. Am I right?" she mumbled round a mouth full of food.

Sienna laughed. "Yes I suppose I am but I don't have anything planned, I was actually thinking about a shopping trip. Van Dyke's having a party tomorrow and I've worn all the dresses in my closet before so…"

"Oh my god, you're actually asking me to go shopping with you? Do you not know me at all? I love to shop… and wait a second a party? As in a real Malibu party?" Sienna nodded, "Well in that case we need to get moving because I have nothing and I mean NOTHING to wear. Unless of course they accept jeans and T-shirts which I doubt because it used to be admittance with a dress only and I imagine things have only gotten more strict so if I turn up in any of the outfits packed then they'll most likely throw me-"

"God, I'd forgotten how much you could ramble on," Sienna laughed, "Yes it's a party, no you cannot wear jeans, and if you need to shop that badly then maybe you should finish your pancakes so we can leave." Amber nodded and started to munch at super speed until Sienna put a hand over hers where it was about to spear another piece of pancake, "just not fast enough to make yourself ill?" she suggested, laughing.

"And how about I invite Belle? Now that you're back I'm sure she'd love to see you," she paused and then added, "and she'd probably kill me if I didn't invite her to come shopping with us, she'd feel abandoned." She giggled.

Amber nodded eagerly, she loved Belle, but she hadn't seen her since she moved which was a long time ago. She'd been to visit Sienna a couple of times since then but they'd never stayed long because the memories of her mother always seemed to haunt her dad, and then when he'd married Jennifer…well she hated even the mention of her mother, she always got jealous so she refused to visit Malibu, even when Amber had begged her to.

Amber finished her breakfast and downed her orange juice at once, a gesture that made Sienna laugh. Amber may look like a girly girl now that she was older but she had never quite gotten the manners and deep down she was a tom boy at heart.

As she moved to the sink to wash her plate Sienna subtly looked her over once and was relieved to see she looked her normal self. She was wearing a blue superdry T-shirt that hugged her figure perfectly and a pair of incredibly tight shorts which were frayed along the seams. She had paired it with a large woven belt which was slung over her hips and brown gladiator sandals which gave way to her perfectly manicured blue red toe nails.

She also looked better groomed; her hair had been washed and had been deliberately tousled in typical Amber fashion. She detested anything which hinted at perfection so always messed herself up slightly to make herself look more 'real'. Her eyes were surrounded by a thin line of brown eye liner and her lips were shining with the barest hint of lip gloss. She looked stunning.

Sienna called Belle while Amber cleared up and invited her to come shopping, a plan which already had Belle squealing down the phone but when she mentioned that Amber was here she had to remove the phone from her ear; Belle's scream was ear splitting. She promised to meet them at the shopping mall in 10 minutes and told Sienna to warn Amber she was going to get the biggest hug ever. Amber just laughed.

The drive there was filled with the sound of the radio and the two girls singing giddily along with the words. Amber was pretty sure that between them they managed to murder Teenage Dream and Forget You. But it sure was funny when they hit all the wrong notes and started giggling. It was just like old times and that made Amber smile properly for the first time in weeks.

As they pulled into the lot they saw Belle running towards them. As she reached the now open passenger door Belle started screaming again and ran at Amber hugging her so hard that Sienna had to pry her off before she killed the poor girl. After all with Belle's vampire strength she could well kill Amber and that would not be a good thing. It was funny though and Amber couldn't help but laugh. Then, all three girls headed off into the shops to find the perfect dresses for tonight.

When it came to explaining Amber's sudden appearance Sienna quickly told Belle that Amber was taking vacation here. Belle asked why she was on holiday in the middle of the year and Amber quickly added that she'd asked her dad if she could take a few weeks going to school in Malibu so she could come see everyone for a while, that she'd decided a change of scenery would be good and that the local school ran all the same courses she took so she would be fine. There was no need to tell Belle everything or to upset Amber.

As they visited the first shop Belle had her arm linked with Amber's and was catching her up on two and a half years worth of gossip from Sienna dating Brad, to Ryan and Jenny (Jason's little sister) to Sienna dumping Brad for Jason and finally to Erin's latest beau the foreign guy in from Spain.

The girls looked around and Belle watched as Amber flicked through a few dresses on the closest rack, picking them out and critically eyeing them before putting them back, and the frustrating thing is all of them were gorgeous, well she was going to have to change that. Belle picked up a nearby dress and threw it to Amber, who caught it quickly.

"This would look amazing on you; you have to try it on. Like now!" she cried pushing Amber towards the fitting room whilst tearing various other dresses of the racks on her way and throwing them at Amber. Amber had forgotten how much she'd missed Belle. It was nice to see her again.


End file.
